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Space
Space! The Space Race: Both the United States and the Soviet Union were in a race to get to the moon first in the 20th century The space race was important as it would show the world which country had the best science, technology, and economic system. The race to space began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) Americans wanted to catch up to the Soviet's technological advances. This was during the Cold War and so America was unsure if the Soviet Union would use the technology for military purposes. The Soviets were first to send a person into space (On April 12, 1961) America was falling behind the Soviet Union in the race at this point in time. Until America sent men to the moon and back on July 20 1969. Rocket Science: Escape Velocity: Escape velocity is the velocity needed to overcome the gravitational pull of another object. The larger the gravitational pull of an object the more force is needed to overcome that thus meaning. On Earth escape velocity is 11.2 km/s or 11,200 m/s. Escape velocity is also ~33 times the speed of sound (mach 33). The gravitational pull of Earth is 9.807 m/s² which is often rounded off to 10. On the moon escape velocity is 2.38 km/s or 2,380 m/s. Escape velocity is ~mach 7. Gravitational pull is 1.622 m/s². Because of the low gravitational pull, you can leave the moon’s SOI (sphere of influence) with very little thrust. Layers of the Atmosphere: Exosphere: 700 to 10,000 km. Thermosphere: 80 to 700 km. Mesosphere: 50 to 80 km. Stratosphere: 12 to 50 km. Troposphere: 0 to 12 km. The Apollo Spacesuit: Today, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) has a combination of both soft and hard components to provide the astronaut support, mobility and comfort. A spacesuit is much more than a set of clothes astronauts wear on spacewalks. A fully equipped spacesuit is really a one-person spacecraft. The formal name for the spacesuit used on the space shuttle and International Space Station is the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU. "Extravehicular" means outside of the vehicle or spacecraft. "Mobility" means that the astronaut can move around in the suit. The spacesuit protects the astronaut from the dangers of being outside in space. The EMU has 13 layers of material, including a cooling garment (2 of the layers), pressure garment (2 of the layers), thermal micrometeoroid* garment (8 of the layers) and outer cover (one layer) . All of these layers are sewn and cemented together to make the suit. In early versions of space suits (individually tailored for each astronaut), the EMU has component pieces of varying sizes that can be put together to fit any given astronaut. The materials used include: Nylon tricot, Spandex, Urethane-coated Nylon, Dacron, Neoprene-coated Nylon, Mylar, Gortex, Kevlar, Nomex. Spacesuits help astronauts in several ways. Spacewalking astronauts face a wide variety of temperatures. In Earth orbit, conditions can be as cold as minus 250 degrees Fahrenheit. In the sunlight, they can be as hot as 250 degrees. A space suit protects astronauts from those extreme temperatures. Spacesuits also supply astronauts with oxygen to breathe while they are in the vacuum of space. They contain water to drink during spacewalks. They protect astronauts from being injured from impacts of small bits of space dust. Space dust may not sound very dangerous, but when even a tiny object is moving many times faster than a bullet, it can cause injury. Spacesuits also protect astronauts from radiation in space. The suits even have visors to protect astronauts' eyes from the bright sunlight. Rocket Physics: A rocket in its simplest form is a chamber enclosing a gas under pressure. A small opening at one end of the chamber allows the gas to escape, and in doing so provides a thrust that propels the rocket in the opposite direction. A good example of this is a balloon. Air inside a balloon is compressed by the balloon's rubber walls. The air pushes back so that the inward and outward pressing forces are balanced. When the nozzle is released, air escapes through it and the balloon is propelled in the opposite direction. With space rockets, the gas is produced by burning propellants that can be solid or liquid in form or a combination of the two. Attempts to go to Mars: China’s first mission to Mars is in 2020. Chinese scientists say it’s going to be more complex than any other attempted/worked on flights to Mars due to the fact that they will actually land and put a lander and rover on its surface, whereas other countries have only carried out ‘fly bys’. Space Elevator: The space elevator would be a hollow room with paper thin walls made out of the world's lightest but strongest material (maybe nanocarbon, graphene or if we manage to discover a new element which would fit the criteria) The total height of this mega structure would be approximately 35400 km. Transport cars would climb up and down the faces as transport to and from the area in which the the elevator would gain entry to.